Are you interested in learning how to brew beer? Or maybe you are just curious about the beer making process? Here is a complete guide to beer making for beginners so you can learn exactly how your favorite beverage is made.
When I started brewing this guide helped SO much. I could refer back to it again and again when diving into brew days to ensure I didn’t miss an important step.
Making beer can seem like climbing a mountain with all the equipment and science behind it all. Not to worry, I will show you exactly how you can make beer at home step by step – and an opportunity to buy your first kit (with everything you need!) so you can start making beer ASAP!
You will learn beer making for beginners step by step, you will see a beer brewing kit, and you will learn about beer making for beginners at home.
After learning how to brew beer, you will be ready to host your first party featuring your very own homemade beers. This, is the best part of beverage creation, in my opinion 😉
This post is all about beer making for beginners.
Beer Making for Beginners
What is a beer brewing kit?
Is it easy to brew with a beer making kit for beginners?
You can make 1 gallon recipes that make about nine 12 oz bottles or you can make 5 gallon recipes that make about forty eight 12 oz bottles.
Beer brewing kits tend to be super straight forward and contain all the ingredients you need. The majority of them will contain an instructions sheet so you can follow along easily.
These kits do not have all the necessary equipment needed to brew beer so I have laid out what other equipment you need to complete a brewing kit!
How long does it take to make beer from a beer brewing kit?
Brew days take anywhere from 3-5 hours and then it take about 4 weeks after brew day until you can enjoy your creation. But, trust me it is worth the wait!
It doesn’t matter if you are using a beer brewing kit or not, they both take about the same amount of time.
What other pieces of equipment do I need when using a kit?
1 Gallon Beer Making Kit
I recommend Craft-a-Brew kits, so you will need these in addition to the kit:
- Flip top beer bottles (no need for a capper or caps)
- Star-San sanitizer
- Priming sugar for bottling (cane/corn sugar, or honey you already have also work)
- PBW cleaner
- Hydrometer
5 Gallon Beer Making Kit
I recommend Brewer’s Best kits, so you will need these in addition to the kit:
- Two five-gallon fermenters with airlocks
- Beer bottles for bottling
- Bottle capper
- Siphon hose set up
- Star-San sanitizer
- PBW cleaner
- Hydrometer
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Easy Beer Making for Beginners Step-by-Step
Here I will be showing you how to brew beer at home without a kit and how to make beer at home easy! You won’t need to scramble to find your nearest homebrew supply shop and be overwhelmed by all the equipment and ingredients. It is all right here!
Or, if you are ready to brew, but you are just looking for “how the hell do I do this”, then look no further! This is a detailed guide to take you from zero to hero, from brew day to bottling.
How to Brew Beer at Home Without a Kit
It takes three major steps to brew beer at home without a kit. You have the brew day, the bottling day, and the moment you enjoy. The step-by-step guide below is for a one gallon batch of beer. For a 5-gallon batch, multiply everything by 5 and use a 5-gallon bucket for fermentation.
Step One: BREW DAY
- Collect ingredients and equipment.
Ingredients for 1 gallon beer recipe:
- 1 lb of dry malt extract
- 1 ounce of Cascade hops
- 1 packet of safale US-05 yeast
- One gallon of spring water (unless your tap water is good enough to drink)
Equipment for 1 gallon beer recipe:
- One gallon fermenter & airlock
- Pot large enough to fit one gallon of water
- Funnel and/or siphon hose
- Sanitizer
- Kitchen scale
- Kitchen thermometer
- Measuring cup
- Optional: hydrometer and graduated cylinder
- Sanitize all equipment listed above. **This is SUPER important. Anything that will touch your beer, or wort, NEEDS to be sanitized!
- Start heating the water on your stove or propane burner.
- Once you start the burner, add in your 1 pound of dry malt extract and bring to a boil
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- Once boiling, you begin the hop schedule! Start your timer for 60 minutes. We will be adding in the hops at certain intervals. Here is a simple hop schedule for this 1 gallon beer recipe:
- 60 minutes add 0.15oz of Cascade hops
- 20 minutes remaining on the clock add 0.15oz of Cascade hops
- Once the 60 minute timer goes off, it is time to chill your wort. Put it into the sink with 2 bags of ice and check the temperature regularly for about 20 minutes.
- You can take it out once the wort in the sink hits around 75 degrees F.
- Pour the wort into the sanitized fermenter and pitch the yeast.
- 2.3 grams of safale us-05 yeast per gallon. Give her a good swirl! You want to aerate the liquid as much as you can.
Optional: If you want to measure the ABV (alcohol by volume) of your brew then you will pour some of your brew into the graduated cylinder and place the hydrometer into the cylinder. Write down where the line hits. It should be something like 1.020 or similar. This is the starting gravity, or original gravity.
- Put the airlock on the fermenter and start primary fermentation. Oh, and then grab a beer and celebrate your first brew day!!
Optional: Rack the beer into secondary fermentation
After one week (or when fermentation slows, which tends to be 5-7 days) you can “rack” the beer into, what is called, secondary fermentation. Here you use a sanitized siphon and move the beer from the primary fermenter into a bowl. Then, clean out the fermenter and pour your beer back into the fermenter with the airlock. Leave it in secondary fermentation for another week.
Secondary fermentation is the time to “dry hop” if you wish to add more hops or other flavors (lavender flowers, yarrow, or other herbs).
Step Two: BOTTLING DAY
After two weeks or so, since brew day, you are ready to start bottling! This day is one of my favorites. Crack a beer and enjoy it while you bottle YOUR beer. It’s lovely, trust me!
RELATED POST: The Ultimate Guide to Bottling Homebrew for Beer, Cider, and Soda
Optional: If you measured the ABV earlier, this is the time to do that again. Pour some of the brew into the sanitized graduated cylinder with the hydrometer. Write down where the line hits. This is your final gravity.
Put it into this equation to get your ABV:
(Final Gravity) – (Original Gravity) x 131.25 = ABV
- Sanitize your swing top beer bottles and funnel
- Add 2g of cane sugar, corn sugar, or “priming sugar” to each 16oz bottle (if you are using 12oz bottles you will use 1.5g of sugar)
- Gently pour the beer into each bottle using the funnel and cap them off!
- Give the bottles a little swirl & shake before storing them in your pantry, or anyplace out of the fridge, for two weeks.
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Step Three: ENJOY YOUR CREATION
After two weeks that’s it! Brewing beer just got easy! It does take some patience, and time, until you can enjoy your batch. But, that is the beauty of it.
You really have the time to connect with the ferment. I love the smells and look of my beer when it is fermenting! It is truly a sacred process.
Do you wish to make this simple one gallon beer recipe at home? Here is where you can purchase the ingredients and equipment needed for this basic beer brewing for beginners! xoxo
This post was all about beer making for beginners and beer making for beginners step by step.
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